ON THOSE MAD FLYING FRENCHMEN

LEAPS OF FAITH

Is it just me or do the French seem to be going through a mini-Lindbergh phase early into the 21st Century?  A few days ago I posted about a former French fighter pilot successfully flying a jet-powered wing to speeds of over 185 miles an hour over the Swiss Alps.

Now we have the story of another French flying daredevil attempting something again for the record books.  The New York Times explains:

"Depending on the weather, (Michel) Fournier, a 64-year-old retired French army officer, will attempt what he is calling Le Grand Saut (The Great Leap) on Sunday from the plains of northern Saskatchewan.

He intends to climb into the pressurized gondola of the 650-foot balloon, which resembles a giant jellyfish, and make a two-hour journey to 130,000 feet. At that altitude, almost 25 miles up, Fournier will see both the blackness of space and the curvature of the earth. He will experience weightlessness.

Then he plans to step out of the capsule, wearing only a special space suit and a parachute, and plunge down in a mere 15 minutes.

If successful, Fournier will fall longer, farther and faster than anyone in history. Along the way, he can accomplish other firsts, by breaking the sound barrier and records that have stood for nearly 50 years."

Whew!

And we thought most of these types of records had been broken.

What are the risks of such a feat, you ask? A few, aparently:

"Fournier faces plenty of perils. Above 40,000 feet, there is not enough oxygen to breathe in the frigid air. He could experience a fatal embolism. And 12 miles up, should his protective systems fail, his blood could begin to boil because of the air pressure, said Henri Marotte, a professor of physiology at the University of Paris and a member of Fournier’s team.

“If the human body were exposed at very high altitude, the loss of consciousness is very fast, in five seconds,” Marotte said. “Brain damage, in three or four minutes."

Whew, indeed.

All we can say to Michel Fournier, is Bon Voyage!  We wish you the safest of landings.

Comments

[Erik]

"He will experience weightlessness" ... why should he then fall down to earth again?

I recommend for the author to go back to school and learn some basics before writing for the New York Times.